I think this is Republican Motherhood and its consequences.

The role of women as educators might be traced back to this movement within early America. It is, in some ways, a contradictory ideology. Simultaneously reinforcing the existing patriarchal notions of women’s work, but also demanding education for women so they might subsume the role of the educator and place that responsibility under the umbrella of the primary caretaker of the families/communities children. Its ideological framing being that of building a strong republic through building virtuous families.

I’m sure a clear line could be drawn from this movement to women being the primary demographic in grade level education. Elementary School has the highest disparity, while secondary schools have a closer distribution but still a decent gap (roughly 20%). Higher Education is the most evenly split.

The age of the student I think plays a huge role. Elementary School students are still very young. Its hard to say how exactly that has an impact on the demographic split, but it feels like it does.

Could this be a result of little kids being viewed as closer to “babies” then not, and as such closer to a mothers / women’s responsibility? Or could this be a fear driven pattern of behavior, where men are viewed as predators and thus are avoided?

I personally know a young man who works in daycare with little kids, who has expressed his desire to be an Elementary teacher, but is also aware that some people are clearly more cautious of him in that role as a man. He’s not the only man at the daycare, but they are a very small percentage of the staff.

I have read accounts of male daycare workers having to abide by special rules at their center, such as not being able to change a child’s diaper. But now I’m heading into anecdotal territory.

Its a hard topic to pin down. I think the caution and distrust of men in these early education roles is a real phenomenon, but to what degree I’m unsure.

It’s also unclear how many men have simply convinced themselves that these “realities” are real and ever present, and as such avoid these roles all together. Or what percentage of men see daycare and elementary education as “women’s work” from the jump and never consider it a valid path for them.

I have no real answers here. No strong conclusions. I think this topic is one worth digging deep into though, to find where fiction ends and fact begins.